


Staring at the pressure now (I won’t quit, not backing down)

by MYuzuki



Series: No matter what’s in front of me (I’ll keep fighting til I’ve won) [38]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Friendship, Gen, How Do I Tag, as always I don't know what to tag this as lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:40:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26690791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MYuzuki/pseuds/MYuzuki
Summary: When Nyx reports to Regis upon his return to Insomnia, the King takes one good long look at him after listening to his entire tale and then unceremoniously cracks a potion over his head.
Relationships: Cor Leonis & Nyx Ulric, Regis Lucis Caelum & Nyx Ulric
Series: No matter what’s in front of me (I’ll keep fighting til I’ve won) [38]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1897525
Comments: 13
Kudos: 124





	Staring at the pressure now (I won’t quit, not backing down)

**Author's Note:**

> And here we have a drabble in which we slowly progress further with our current plot point! Enjoy! 
> 
> (Also, sorry for the slight posting delay! I tried to post this drabble this morning, but ffnet (which I use as a midway step for uploading fic files since it makes copying & pasting formatted text into ao3 easy) was throwing up a 503 error and I couldn’t log in, which thereby threw off my groove. And then I had to go to work and didn’t have access to my laptop for ten hours. XP 
> 
> Anyway, ffnet is still not working right, so please excuse any formatting weirdness; I basically had to copy the text of this drabble straight from my Word doc to ao3, which sometimes creates funky formatting issues. ;P)

****Staring at the pressure now (I won’t quit, not backing down)** **

* * *

When Nyx reports to Regis upon his return to Insomnia, the King takes one good long look at him after listening to his entire tale and then unceremoniously cracks a potion over his head.

Nyx sputters indignantly even as the healing effects of the potion take hold, easing the aches and pains lingering in his muscles from the last seventy-two hours of fighting; his ribs still hurt like a bitch, but he’s more than passingly familiar with the limitations of Lucian healing magics after his years of service to kingdom so that’s not surprising (especially not when he’s hours removed from the original injury, which tends to lessen the impact of potions by default). “Your Majesty,” he begins, only for Regis to cut him off.

“Commander Ulric,” the Kings says, his tone somewhere between exasperated and fond, “consider yourself officially on light duty for the next week.”

Nyx makes an unhappy sound. “What? No, I can’t just-”

“Take a well-earned break from throwing yourself headfirst into trouble on a weekly basis? You can, and you will.”

Nyx opens his mouth to argue, then hesitates because Regis is the _king_. “Given the fact that we’re still at war with Niflheim,” he says at last, aiming for a neutral tone (although a bit of belligerence creeps in despite his best intentions), “I don’t think now is really the best time for me to be taking a step back from the battlefield.”

Regis gives a very undignified eye roll, and Nyx has a feeling that if any other nobles were present they would be suitably scandalized by the very sight of it. “On the contrary, you have cracked ribs and haven’t slept in three days; it’s the perfect time.”

Nyx gives an aggravated huff, and decides that he _is_ going to argue, but then Cor slips into the room, striding across the briefing room with Clarus trailing along after him.

“You look like shit,” Cor says by way of greeting, and Nyx flips him off on general principle.

“Thanks, asshole,” Nyx returns dryly, “I love you, too.”

Cor snorts, shaking his head in wordless amusement.

“Ah, Cor, you’re just in time,” Regis says, tone deceptively pleasant. “I was just telling Commander Ulric that he’ll be taking a few days off from active combat.”

If anything, Cor looks more amused than before. “And how’s that going for you?” he asks, tone indicating that he already knows the answer.

“He’s being rather stubborn,” Regis replies mildly.

“What a shocking surprise,” Cor says, deadpan.

Clarus gives a little startled chuckle that he quickly transforms into a small cough, and Nyx is so entertained by the sight of the King’s Shield laughing that he refrains from making any further obscene gestures at Cor.

“I just don’t think now is a good time for me to be sitting on the sidelines,” Nyx says next, perhaps a touch defensively.

Now it’s Cor’s turn to roll his eyes. “It’s not like you’ll be benched for very long,” he points out pragmatically. “You’ll return to active duty just as soon as you finish healing.”

“And in the meantime,” Regis adds, “you can help us brainstorm what we’re going to do about this issue with the havens that you mentioned.” His expression shades into something more serious, worry deepening the lines around his mouth and eyes. “You said the protective magics failed?”

Nyx nods, heart-rate kicking up just at the thought of it. “Yeah,” he says, throat dry as he swallows. “Almost like it was running out of juice or something.”

Regis’s frown intensifies, and he heaves a long sigh. “We’ll need to consult with our resident experts on the subject and determine what, if any, action can be taken to remedy the situation.”

“I will speak to Lady Lunafreya,” Clarus volunteers. “As the Oracle, she may be able to offer some insight into the situation.”

“Perhaps,” Regis acknowledges, although his expression of worry doesn’t ease. Nyx wonders at that, then remembers that while Lunafreya has been Oracle since her mother’s death twelve years ago, she’s also been a prisoner of the Imperials that entire time; it’s entirely possible that even she doesn’t know everything relating to her position, that key information that her mother would have passed on to her was lost to the edge of Glauca’s sword on that fateful day in Tenebrae.

Which is…really not great, now that Nyx is thinking of it. Because if Lunafreya doesn’t know what’s going wrong with the havens, then they’re going to be shit out of luck for how to _fix_ the problem. Which means that the havens are going to keep intermittently failing, which will cause a lot of deaths as the people who should have been protected are attacked by daemons.

But other than Lunafreya, there’s no one else who would know enough about the Oracle's duties and and magic to-

Nyx’s entire thought process comes grinding to a halt as he realizes, with a sinking feeling, that there is actually someone else who probably knows about Oracles and whatever magic keeps the havens operational.

But…“Fuck,” he mutters, quietly and with feeling, because that someone happens to be two thousand years old and a sly scheming bastard and Nyx _does not get paid enough for this shit._

Cor, meanwhile, makes a vaguely inquisitive sound and arches an eyebrow at him expectantly.

“Ardyn,” Nyx says through gritted teeth, “would probably be able to offer some sort of insight into the haven problem. I mean, he knew an Oracle back in his day, right? And he is ridiculously old. Stands to reason that he might have a few ideas about what’s happening.”

A long, long moment of silence as everyone seems to process that. Then…

“ _Fuck_ ,” Cor says, quietly but with such intense sincerity that Nyx can’t help but bust up laughing. “I cannot believe that you’re suggesting we ask _Ardyn Izunia_ for his help,” the Marshall goes on, sounding so low-key outraged that it would almost be hilarious if the subject itself wasn’t so serious.

Nyx manages to get his laughter under control (which is for the best all the way around because hysterical laughter and badly cracked ribs _really_ aren’t a good combination) and claps his friend lightly on the shoulder. “Do you want to talk to the sneaky bastard, or shall I?”

Cor curses at him under his breath before turning to the King with a look that’s halfway between belligerent and pleading. “Regis-”

“Clarus and I will speak to Lady Lunafreya and see what she has to say on the matter,” the King replies, smoothly cutting off Cor before he can say anything else. “You and Nyx can work out between the two of you who approaches Ardyn for his insight.” He glances at the large ornate clock that’s hanging on the far wall. “We’ll reconvene in three hours to discuss what we’ve learned and how to proceed.” He nods to them all in what is plainly a dismissal, then sweeps from the room with Clarus on his heels.

Cor curses again, expression edging towards an aggressive sort of sulkiness. “I’d sooner fight Gilgamesh again than ask that bastard for help,” he mutters darkly.

Nyx gives a low huff of exhausted amusement, shaking his head. “I’m not exactly eager to go begging him for favors, either,” he returns dryly, “but unless you have another millennia-old asshole in your pocket who can tell us why the havens are malfunctioning, he’s pretty much our only choice. Look,” he goes on, “I’ll go see if I can’t pry the bastard out of whatever shadowy corner he’s lurking in and bring him to the meeting later so he can share what he knows. Who knows, I might even get him to tag along without threats of bodily harm.”

“Fuck,” Cor says again, but this time it’s more resigned more than anything. “Alright, fine. But _don’t_ ,” he adds, reaching out to fist a hand in the collar of Nyx’s jacket, “do anything else stupidly reckless between then and now, understand? Because I’m pretty sure you’ve used up your quota of luck for the month.”

Nyx snorts. “Hell, Cor, I’ve probably used up my quota of luck for the next _decade_ at this point.” He lifts his hands in a gesture of surrender when all his friend does is level him with a very unimpressed glare. “Alright, alright, I got it, relax. I’ll behave.”

Cor gives him a vaguely disbelieving look, then finally relents with a small sigh when Nyx gives him an overly bright smile of fake innocence. “Take it easy on your ribs,” he says at last, cuffing Nyx lightly on the shoulder before heading for the exit. “Otherwise Regis will put you on light duty for _multiple_ weeks.”

Nyx gives a shudder that’s not entirely faked. “I’ll see you later at the meeting,” is all he says in farewell, though, because his mind is already jumping ahead, to finding Ardyn and convincing the former Chancellor to share his insight without twisting it all up in sly comments and convoluted non-answers.

 _This is going to be such a long fucking day_ , he thinks, and then strides off down the halls of the Citadels looking for an asshole in a fancy hat.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, hope you enjoyed that! :D 
> 
> Also, just a friendly head’s up to you all: I’m probably going to have to slow my roll a bit when it comes to posting new drabbles every day. The intensity of my classes is picking up slightly (and work has not slowed down very much) so I’m finding myself with less time to write during my downtime. I’m still going to post as often as possible but unless I manage to churn out a bunch of content in one sitting to give myself a bit more of a buffer (not out of the question, since sometimes I’ll open up my word processor and crank out like three drabbles in one sitting) I’m not going to be able to post every day like I have for the past couple weeks. Sorry! ^_^;


End file.
